While they are considering your product or service.
At this stage, it’s a chance to learn from each other. They can ask you questions about your product/service. You can learn what matters to them and take action with this info. Consider a banner in key spots on your website advertising your community and that you are ready for their pre-sales questions.

When they make a purchase of your product or service.
It can easily be done, but it’s not always done. Add a message to the order confirmation page. You can also consider inviting the new customer to join your community when you confirm their order by email. As a customer waiting to receive their product/service they will be in an anticipatory mood, and it’s  could be  a great time to get them to join,  especially if you  are selling an entertainment or  consumer product.

Once your product or service arrives.
There is nothing like the excitement of receiving something you have been waiting for, even if it’s a digital download (like software). Consider including a link to your community or a call to action to your new customer in the product itself. If you are actually sending a physical product, you could include an invitation or simple postcard inviting them to join the community. If it’s a service, maybe your community has an FAQ section or a new customer advice section you might want to point them to in the manual or the welcome packet.

After they have a chance to finally use the product and service.
Once a couple of weeks has passed since the purchase, consider a follow up invitation to join the community and participate with other customers for hints, tips, tricks shared by fellow customers. It’s a great time to show value for them to join in and ensure they get the most value from your product or service.

While sometimes we spend sometimes on selling products or services it can happen we miss a simple way to increase memberships. As we saw above, four clear points where you can engage with your customers and turn them into community members. Which ones do you use? Which ones have you found most effective?

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